The Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir is our “house style” Pinot, crafted from all four clones grown in our estate vineyard in Boonville, in the Anderson Valley appellation.
Fruit is double-sorted, then added to fermentation bins with 70% destemmed berries and 30% whole clusters. We have never inoculated on-site, using only native yeast and native malolactic strains. Punchdowns were done by hand, and after being pressed in a wooden basket press, the wine was aged in French oak barrels until ready to bottle unfined and unfiltered.
The 2012 vintage was as ideal as we’ve seen in Anderson Valley. In many ways it reminded us of 2007 — the grapes ripened evenly and right on schedule, and no major weather events arrived during summer or harvest. In short, this was a great vintage at Charles Vineyard and for the North Coast in general.
Although we started listing ingredients several years ago (with our 2010 Charles Vineyard Semillon), 2012 is the first vintage that this statement will appear on all our wines.